Jim Cronin

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Alternative Title:
James Michael Cronin

Jim Cronin, (James Michael Cronin), American animal activist (born Nov. 15, 1951, Yonkers, N.Y.—died March 17, 2007, New York, N.Y.), founded (1987) the 26-ha (65-ac) wildlife park Monkey World and its associated Ape Rescue Centre in Dorset, Eng. Despite having had no formal education beyond high school, Cronin worked as a keeper at the Bronx Zoo and then at the Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent, Eng., where he developed his love for the great apes. In 1987 he received a British government-backed business loan to establish Monkey World on an abandoned pig farm. Cronin and his wife, Alison, an American biological anthropologist whom he married in 1996, traveled around the world to rescue and rehabilitate abused chimpanzees and other primates and to campaign against trafficking in primates. In 2006 he was made honorary MBE for his contributions to animal welfare.